Crystal Palace - March 1999

Out of all the possible events that have caused players to be absent from the team, today really takes the biscuit. Forget the old complaint about injuries and suspensions. Forget the one about players being withdrawn due to 'mental stress'. Forget the one about having to sell players to keep alive a club in dire financial straits. Today, for the first time in almost twenty years, players were absent because of events in Yugoslavia. The government called on its players to boycott their matches this week and, considering most of them have family still there, decided to comply. There are four Yugoslav players in the English league. Two of them play in the Premiership. Which had a weekend off due to the international yesterday. The other two play for the same club. Go on. Guess.

Most of the defence gone and two players unavailable against the team coming third and looking to move into the second automatic promotion spot (after Sunderland and daylight). Not a good bet for a home win. This outcome was looking ominous a mere thirty seconds into the match when Bradford flashed a header across the face of the goal while the Palace defenders acted like Madame Tussaud exhibits. After that it was a surprisingly strong Palace performance against a team which stacked the defence and looked for a quick breakaway. This wasn't too successful for them as the only shot anywhere near the goal was stopped, a bit hesitantly it must be said, by Miller. However, considering the state of the pitch, any low shot can be expected to do a Shane Warne special so no wonder we have a keeper not prepared to trust even the tamest of shots. They were lucky still to have all eleven on the field at half time after Morrison outpaced their defence but was hauled back by the shirt. The referee judged their keeper would have got to the ball which saved someone from an early bath. All through the half Palace were making the better chances but not being able to convert them. The problem still seems to be a reluctance to shoot from anywhere outside the penalty box. This was finally resolved when three minutes into time added on Fan Zhiyi smacked it from 30 yards out through a crowd of players and off the keeper's hands into the net. For the third consecutive home games we'd scored on the stroke of half-time.

The second period involved Bradford waking up a bit as they realised they had to chase the game if they wanted to avoid the play-off lottery. While they were able to get a few more balls into the box none of them were particularly troubling, especially since Moore was having his usual brilliant game. Also looking good was Sun Jihai who has certainly matured in a few months and is now prepared to dribble past opponents rather than just hoof it downfield. Fan was running everywhere and almost got a second after a lovely run and cross by Sun was put just past the near post. Foster seemed to enjoy being back and was getting stuck into what was becoming a very physical game. Amazingly he didn't get booked. Woozley, a debutant I believe, was looking a little quiet early on but looked OK when his nerves settled. A good tackle and 'round the corner' clearance on the edge of the area did wonders for his confidence and even more for the crowds'. Since Bradford were pressing, especially late in the game, Morrison and McKenzie were being given a lot of over the top balls the run on to. When not being caught offside they were causing problems although their relative lack of size against the centre-halfs meant they couldn't make the most of it. Morrison did get a great chance with a couple of minutes to go when he tried to get around the keeper who was closing him down quickly. They both went for the ball and Clinton took a tumble. However, unlike at Bradford the referee wasn't giving any late penalties this time. Palace ended up doing all the late attacking and corners eventually ate up the time for a very hard fought 1-0 win.

That means we've beaten second and third in the table in recent weeks. I wonder if we can do a similar result on Easter Monday. If so it would be a bigger miracle than the one two thousand years ago!

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Transfer Deadline Day

TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY (25th March 1999)

With the entire squad up for sale and the administrator telling players to negotiate their own contracts with someone else because they probably won't be paid next month it was all set for an exodus. With the need to offload as many players as possible it was expected that this weekend's team would comprise of reserve team and Academy players. Not quite. Out of the forty or so still on the books a total of six disappeared, five of them on loan! Andy Turner, who never made the first team, went on a free to Wolves so he definitely won't be in the Premiership next year. After all the rumours Bradbury finally did end up at Birmingham but only until the end of the season. Tuttle stepped up a division to help Charlton against the drop while Linighan went NW to QPR. The Smith Jamie went to Fulham while the Fullarton one went to Bolton. That takes a big of a chunk out of our defensive line and the worst thing is that we'll play against Linighan in the last game and past players always score (except Bruce Dyer of course). Curiously the loan periods to Birmingham and Bolton last to the end of May so they obviously think they are play-off candidates. The Fulham one only goes to the end of the league season so the cocky sods think they will get an automatic promotion. I suppose being 15 points ahead at the top of the table can do that but then why bring in a loan player when it is the perfect opportunity to blood new players for next season? The obvious answer is that these are effectively trials for the players and the majority of them will end up moving permanently over the season break.

I must admit to being a bit surprised no one came in with a full transfer offer but then I suppose the rest of the clubs are merely circling until after the three month administration period when they will hope that Palace will be forced to let players go for whatever scant amounts are offered. Its the standard business practice of survival of the fittest but it doesn't look too good from this end when the lions are prowling and you're the goat. With two broken legs.

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Transfer Troubles

TRANSFERRED. ER NOT QUITE (23rd March 1999)

With various press reports stating everything from the entire squad being put up for sale to selected players it is looking like the end of season exodus from Selhurst Park. The obvious candidates are those on the biggest salary which means a stack based process of the last ones in being the first ones out. Even with the media's ability to produce total shite by producing as many fabrications as possible in the hope that one of them will, by the law of averages, eventually happen it was nice to have a story confirmed today which just about summed up Palace. After a rumoured £1 million deal for three players (Bradbury, Fan and Sun) to go to Norwich followed by a heart-breaking reduction to a mere £500,000 for them it was all called off. The players decided they were tired of moving around and wanted to stay where they were settled so they knocked back the move. So we have players who don't want to leave a club which is in danger of going bust, a team that has been playing better the more the financial plight deepens, managed by someone who has been removed from that same job twice already, and having the previous owner, still owed lots of money, saying he won't mount a legal challenge if it would push the club into bankruptcy. At times it makes you believe there is still magic in the world.

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You only sing when you're fishing

GRIMSBY TOWN (20th March 1999)

Every bubble has to burst sometime. After being unbeaten at Selhurst Park since September, in massive financial trouble and, despite facing a team in a form slump, all the indications were that Palace would finally allow reality to hit. Grimsby hadn't scored for five games so it wasn't really any surprise that they went one up after only ten minutes. Since it was their first shot (compared to about six from Palace) it was a bit annoying but indicative of the way life is going at the moment. Palace did start to flag after that although they were looking more likely than the soporific Grimsby to actually produce anything. For the second successive home game the imminent approach of half time galvanised them into some action. Bradbury knocked down the ball on the edge of the area and did well to control it before turning and hitting a rather weak shot. The Grimsby keeper took a leaf out of the Dave Beasant coaching manual and made a right mess of it, managing only to lose it right at the feet of Morrison. 1-1. Then into time added on a textbook corner was met by Morrison again for a sublime near post header. A hundred and twenty seconds after looking like trailing at half time we were a goal up. Although it sounds like a cut and paste job from the Ipswich game we scored again within 60 seconds of taking the field. A sublime Bradbury pass put Mullins with only the keeper to beat which he did with ease. Following that was a ten minute spell where it looked like the 5-1 victory over Norwich would be eclipsed. However, Grimsby managed to hold enough of their nerve and the game drifted towards a dull last five minutes. Then it got a little lively as they decided that if Palace could get three goals in as many minutes then they could as well. This resulted in them having their third shot on goal in the entire match (just wide with Miller beaten) and then hitting the post. In between this Tuttle was marched for a second yellow after a clumsy (though not malicious) tackle from behind on the edge of the area. The resulting free kick saw the top tier of the Holmesdale in more danger than Miller's goal.

In the end a 3-1 victory was fair and it is a credit to Coppell how he has focussed the players with everything going on around them. The three points mean that relegation is effectively no longer an issue (and I hope those words don't come back to haunt me!). Palace actually climbed to 12th with that result which puts them in the top half of the table for the first time since Moses was a boy. The main points were that Sasa was finally allowed onto the pitch for the last ten minutes. This was to rapturous applause but he barely got a kick in at all. Not much you can do in that amount of time I suppose although a hat trick would have been nice to add a few more quid to his transfer fee. The other point of note was seeing Moore play in purely a sweeper's role. We all knew he was bargain of the year but seeing him as last line of defence calmly stop most attempts at attack just underlines how good he is and how much we will miss him. He really should be playing in the Premiership (perhaps someone will buy him for £23 million?).

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In Debt

IN DEBT (19th March 1999)

Depending on which figure you read we are in debt by anything up to a total of £22 million. This obviously makes a better headline than taking £13 million assets into account and leaving a total of £9 million. Still, for a club which doesn't own its ground or training complex this is not a good situation. Considering that the value of players will now drop sharply as the vultures see a chance of picking up a bargain it looks a bit worse than the figures indicate. So bad in fact that the administrator has stated that if it isn't sorted within three months a lot of supporters will have free Saturday afternoons next season.

Despite the critical financial state of the club Mark Goldberg is still refusing to take blame. After claiming for a long time that he had reduced the debt he now claims it is the same as when he took over. In that case why pay a huge amount for a club which has £9 million debt. I'm obviously not cut out to work in business because that doesn't make any sense to me. He then claims he was guilty of 'chasing the dream' and that player salaries need to be capped before a similar thing affects a lot of other clubs. I think the Teletubbies are the only ones he hasn't claimed as being at fault. Mark, a little word of advice. If you want people to start taking you seriously then admit you made a huge mistake. Don't try to shift the blame to areas that were originally under your control. If the player's salaries are too high why did you agree to pay them in the first place? If you have the guts to admit you were at fault then it might get you some credibility back with the fans. Keeping your mouth shut for the next twelve months (assuming the club is in business that long) will also help a great deal.

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They think it's all over...Bugger.

PORTSMOUTH (13th March 1999)

Yet another away game that didn't end with a win. After an early goal it was looking like a rare away victory until they equalised in the 89th minute. Since the number of times the opposition has scored in the last 5 minutes is now well into double figures it indicates a problem with concentration and fitness. In one of those "if only" situations we could have enough points to be in the playoffs if only we hadn't conceded those late goals. Then again we could be in a lot better shape generally if only we didn't have a complete dickhead as chairman.

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You're not singing any more

IPSWICH TOWN (9th March 1999)

A few weeks ago the club was described in the Evening Standard as being "like an episode of the Jerry Springer show. Just when you think its hit rock bottom something even more excruciating happens". Since that time Palace have mainly scraped draws (big thanks to the Stockport player who, with an open goal, hit the post from 6 yards out with the last kick of the game and to the Birmingham players who collided resulting in the best 90th minute, 35 yard own goal you will ever see) although they did managed to grind out a win over Barnsley in the Sunday televised match (when I wasn't in the country, natch). Where other managers will motivate their players with the chance of winning the Championship or appearing at Wembley or even a half-time screaming and cup smashing display Steve Coppell and Palace work in a rather unique manner. They don't pay the players. Being in debt is bad (despite what all those economists say; I mean have you ever seen a poor one?) and being in enough debt so the wages of the staff and players can't be paid is getting pretty close to bankruptcy. However, this is Palace so the fact the team plays better as the club falls apart shouldn't really be a surprise.

So it was off to the game. The first stop however was The Alliance at Norwood Junction station. This is the site for a couple of pints before the game. Surprisingly there were quite a few Ipswich supporters there for a weekday night and after the usual confused asking of why I wear a Hartlepool shirt (luck. I've never seen Palace lose while wearing it) we had a chat about the teams. They, being second in the table, were confident of a win. I thought we'd scrape a 1-1 draw (Palace fans are not noted for being over-confident!).

After a very promising start where we looked sharp Ipswich started to look a little more composed but even they couldn't have expected to get a goal from a speculative thump from inside their half that bounced over the keeper leaving their player with nothing more than a tap in required. After that Palace looked a bit flat(ter) but started to work their way back and got back on level terms just before half time with a textbook near post header from Mullins looping over the keeper. It was a shame half time came then because we were looking very good. After the break Palace decided to ignore their usual method of conceding a goal and actually contrived, after a mere 35 seconds, to have a Fan Zhiyi shot blocked on the line before Clinton Morrison popped up to put the rebound away. This opened the game right up as Ipswich, desperate to avoid the playoffs yet again after their bad record in them over the years, pushed forward. While the Palace defence looks a lot tighter now than earlier this year there are still those lax moments that prove to be its undoing. One occurred when Linighan and Sun went to tackle a player on the halfway line. The former missed and the latter was nutmegged. This gave him a clear run down the left and it was with a horrible sinking feeling that you knew he was going to cross to an unmarked man coming in at the far post. I must be more psychic than Eileen Drewery because 5 seconds later it all happened for 2-2. With the game picking up even more it was inevitable there were going to be more goals. What was most surprising was that we scored it. Morrison again getting on the end of a goal mouth scramble. After the usual jumping up and down and yelling and screaming the fans turned to the mass of Ipswich supporters and sang that which hasn't been heard for a long time at Selhurst Park - "you're not singing, you're not singing, you're not singing any more". Despite a couple more close shaves at either end the score remained the same which gave Palace their first successive home wins for four months.

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